1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a power saving system for a recording/reproducing apparatus designed to record or reproduce information on or from optical discs such as MDs (Mini Discs), MD2s, video CDs (Compact Discs), high-quality CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RAMs, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, and MO (Magneto-Optical) discs, and more particularly to a power saving system for an optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus having a temporary memory for storing the data for data compression or decompression or shock-proofing.
2. Background Art
Recently, various types of portable recording/reproducing apparatus using an optical disc such as a CD, a DVD, or a MD appear on the market.
Usually, such portable recording/reproducing apparatuses have a shock-proof memory. For instance, MD portable players have a shock-proof memory of a capacity of about 4 Mbit and, in the playback mode of operation, holds the information content equivalent to a playback time of about 10 sec. in the memory temporarily, while kicking a pickup cyclically between adjacent track turns until one of sectors on which information is to be recorded next. In a record mode, after audio signals are compressed and stored in the shock-proof memory, they are read out of the memory and recorded on a MD for a preselected period of time. A sequence of these operations is carried out cyclically to record all audio signals on the MD. During a time interval between cyclic recordings of the audio signals on the MD, the pickup is kept kicked to track one of track turns for waiting one of sectors on which audio signals are to be recorded next.
Such portable players are required to record or reproduce data for an increased period of time. To this end, it is necessary to prolong the service lift of a battery, or to save as much of power consumed in the player as possible.